Chili Bowl: The curtain call (final: Lanier 30, Fox Tech 14)

Lanier wins 30-14. Be sure to read tomorrow’s edition of the Express-News and check out mysa.com throughout the night for extended coverage. (Editor’s note: corrected final score)

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Lanier forces a turnover on downs with 4:18 left one play after Fox Tech QB Mark Morales leaves the game for the third time, this time with an apparent right knee injury. We’ll be heading down the field momentarily so the next update might not be immediate.

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Did Lanier just put this final Chili Bowl away? Sophomore running back Troy Brown burst through the right side of the line untouched for a 64-yard touchdown. Isaac Cervantes then caught his second 2-point pass from Andrade for a 30-14 lead with 6:27 left.

If Fox Tech is going to pull htis one out, it will have to do it in memorable fashion.

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Lanier forces a punt and gets the ball back with 7 minutes left, leading 22-14.

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Huge, huge play as Fox Tech forces a turnover on downs by stopping Lanier on 4th and 1 from the Fox Tech 1. Mark Rodriguez burst through the line and tripped up Lanier’s Emilio Garza at the 1.

Fox Tech still trails 22-14.

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On the second-to-last play of the third quarter, Lanier’s Jonathan Andrade found running back Troy Brown out of the backfield for a 60-yard gain. He had one man to beat but got tripped up at Fox Tech’s 30-yard line.

Lanier leads 22-14 entering the fourth quarter.

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Lanier has to be breathing a sigh of relief after forcing a turnover on downs after giving Fox Tech the ball at the Voks’ 8-yard line. A fourth-down pass on a slant route fell incomplete.

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Another bizarre moment here with about 3 minutes left in the third quarter. With Lanier backed up on its own 12-yard line, the Voks attempted a fake punt. We can’t imagine it was a planned fake, but suffice it to say the play failed and Fox Tech takes over at the Lanier 11-yard line trailing 22-14.

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Lanier’s Daniel Cruz intercepts Mark Morales on the same play that Gregory Mackey scored on moments ago. Both players went up for the ball, and Cruz wrestled it away in midair.

Then, two plays later, Emilio Garza burst through the line for a 60-yard score. He was caught last second but fell over the goal line in the left corner. The Voks then went for two, and QB Jonathan Andrade hit Isaac Cervantes on a corner route for a 22-14 lead.

Lanier then almost recovered the ensuing kickoff, as the squib kick hit off a Buffaloes player and the Voks got it in a big pile. But the Voks were offside, giving Fox Tech renewed life for the possession.

Lanier leads 22-14 with about six minutes left in the third quarter.

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So how might Fox Tech respond, huh? Beautifully. Mark Morales found Gregory Mackey on a fly route down the right sideline for a 29-yard score that ties the game, 14-14, early in the third quarter.

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Wondering just how much this game means to the folks at Lanier and Fox Tech? Well, one gentleman in the press box was overheard saying at halftime that this might be the saddest day in San Antonio’s history.

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With halftime coming to an end, let’s take a moment to reflect on the first half. Fox Tech stormed out with all the momentum, getting open deep on many throws — several of which still resulted in incompletions — and taking a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

But Lanier closed the half in style with 14 unanswered points. You really have to wonder what the locker room scene was like for Fox Tech. Their momentum gone and potentially their season and football program, too. We’ll know quickly how ready they are to respond, as the Buffaloes will get the ball to start the half.

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What a wild finish to the first half — the Chili Bowl’s last-ever first half.

Fox Tech’s Mark Morales took a shot deep with time winding down in the first half, but Lanier’s Rudy Ray Cardenas intercepted the errant pass and returned it 46 yards all the way to the Buffaloes 9-yard line.

On Lanier’s second play of the ensuing drive, and with the first-half buzzer having just sounded, Lanier QB Jonathan Andrade rolled to his right and hit running back Jose Neri, who was met head up at about the 1 1/2-yard line but dragged the defender, pushing his way across the goal line to take a 12-7 lead.

The Voks then went for 2, and running back Emilio Garza converted by evading a tackler at his feet in the backfield.

Lanier 14, Fox Tech 7 at the half.

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Fox Tech comes down with another interception, this time on a pick by Carlos Rodriguez with 1:05 left in the half. We’ll see if the Buffaloes are content going into the half with a 7-6 lead or will try to go for some passes here in the final minute.

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Bizarre sequence as Lanier pulls within a point at 7-6 late in the second quarter. Following QB Jonathan Andrade’s 2-yard TD run, the PAT is blocked, but an offisde penalty negates the block. However, the kicker pulled a late hit on the player who recovered the blocked punt, resulting in a PAT try from about the 16-yard line. Instead of trying the long kick, the Voks went for 2 points, but Andrade’s pass fell incomplete after a Vok nearly pulled it in off a deflection.

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Fox Tech gets on the scoreboard first, as Justin Guerrero takes in an 11-yard run for a touchdown with 10:46 remaining in the second quarter. Fox Tech 7, Lanier 0.

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The final first quarter of Chili Bowl history ends in a scoreless tie. Fox Tech begins the second quarer at its own 21.

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Fox Tech’s Emilio Moreno comes down with an interception to halt a Lanier drive late in the first quarter.

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Facing a 4th-and-long from around the Lanier 30, Fox Tech tries a reverse to Jesse Clark, which nets nine yards but not a first down. Turnover on downs.

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The Buffaloes are putting on a show on their opening drive, having marched all the way from their own 25 to the Lanier 24, where we currently stand with a timeout.

Fox Tech has had a play of 29 yards negated because of penalty; had a 28-yard hookup and a 24-yard hookup. The Buffaloes have also had a pair of incompletions in which the passes were simply overshot or dropped on potential would-be touchdown passes. They’re exposing the Lanier secondary right now.

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Fox Tech forces a punt on Lanier’s opening drive. The Buffaloes originally forced a three-and-out but an offsides penalty on the punt extended the drive temporarily.

Fox Tech ball at its own 25.

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And we’re set for kickoff.

In case you’re wondering the scene out here, consider this. When arriving about 90 minutes before kickoff, there was a scalper outside asking if I needed kickoffs.

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Just had a nice conversation with Mayor Julián Castro, who shared his thoughts on tonight’s historic Chili Bowl. Castro is a 1992 graduate of Jefferson High School, which like Lanier and Fox Tech is of the San Antonio ISD.

Castro laughed when recalling his earliest memory of the Chili Bowl, which was confusion over what in the world chili had to do with a football game. He also said he thinks he attended one Chili Bowl as a high school student, but was not entirely certain.

Here are some of the highlights of what Castro had to say:

What’s your earliest memory of the Chili Bowl? “My earliest memory is hearing the term ‘Chili Bowl’ when I was probably 10 years and old and wondering, ‘Why in the world did they call it the Chili Bowl? What does it have to do with chili?’ I don’t think I quite still know what it does. But this game captures the enthusiasm and pride of the West Side of San Antonio. It has a special meaning to everyone in the city. I just love the enthusiasm and the fact you have generations of San Antonians that have passed along that fervor and those wonderful aspirations.”

Is it sad to see this game go away? “Sure, it is sad that the Chili Bowl won’t continue. Of course, I hold out hope that in years to come it will come back. I won’t call it a funeral tonight. I think that that’s still to be seen in the coming years.”

Have you attended a Chili Bowl before? “I m not 100-percent sure, but I think I may have come to one (in high school).”

Are you enjoying yourself this evening? “Yes. I had a chance to chat with the coaches and some of the players from each team and to wish them well. I just told them that this game has a lot of meaning to San Antonio as a community and good luck.”

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We’re about 20 minutes away from the 67th and final Chili Bowl getting underway here at Alamo Stadium. There’s close to a capacity crowd here, with only pockets of openings in the corner of each end zone. It appears more people continue to flow in, and parking is a mess outside.

This game obviously boils down to much more than a typical football game, with it marking the end of the storied Chili Bowl and quite possibly Fox Tech’s last-ever football game.

Of course, the Buffaloes can extend their season at least another week with a victory, which would clinch District 28-4A’s fourth and final seed.

The game is so big that Mayor Julián Castro is among those in attendance.